


hyung, you're cute.

by nuestinsync



Category: NCT (Band), SuperM
Genre: College AU, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, SuperM - Freeform, dates before dating, taemin is graduating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:14:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27403339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nuestinsync/pseuds/nuestinsync
Summary: you won't regret watching taemark interactions and then reading this fic.
Relationships: Mark Lee (NCT)/Lee Taemin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	hyung, you're cute.

**Author's Note:**

> they speak in both english and korean because taemin has learnt more in this fic (and he currently is in real life too!) - if it's important, i've emphasised it.
> 
> also, not sure which country this university/college is set in so... there's that.

The cherry blossom was blowing freely the day of the concert. As they made their way to the stadium, the two friends recorded the day for fun, vlogging each other and playing games to pass the time once they were waiting. The elder of the two was particularly playful, photo-bombing the younger’s shots whenever he got the chance with his silly expressions and random dancing. As if their ages were reversed, the air was full of the elder’s uncontrollable giggles, but his friend felt the same giddiness too, whether that was the anticipation of the show or something else that was infectious. 

“It’s my turn to vlog now, Mark,” the elder demanded, sweetly. 

“I mean, you can takeover but we’re not gonna be doing anything for a while…” Mark replied, unknowingly having dropped his honorifics at least an hour ago, to the elder’s quiet enjoyment. His friend took the camera gingerly and began to experiment with angles. 

“WAIT, Taemin… hold it like this, okay?” Mark said, dashing forward towards where Taemin stood taking pictures of the venue’s exterior. 

“Got it, got it,” Taemin chuckled, smiling his characteristic sunny, eye-smile expression. Mark beamed at his progress on the screen, and the two quickly made their way over to the refreshments as they had already agreed. 

They tried to pass the time by playing games and exploring wherever in the venue was accessible, but it was getting crowded, and they decided to stick together in the merch line when it seemed like there wasn’t much time left. Anyone observing their antics would think they would be exhausted by now, but when one thing got boring, they began another game or taking ugly selfies of the other, and it really seemed like the two were closer than a senior and a junior. 

“We should post this on the group chat,” Taemin said, indicating the outrageously expensive but equally attractive shirts and bags they had just bought. 

“Yo, they’re gonna be so jealous…” Mark agreed, looking in awe at the one-of-a-kind designs on the music artist’s merch and feeling a pang of guilt that he and Taemin, not the rest of the Korean Culture Society, got to go to the concert. Ticketing was no joke this year. 

“We’ll have to film a lot, then,” Taemin said, conspiratorially, as if they wouldn’t get caught immediately and made to delete it. Mark scoffed and tucked himself back into Taemin’s side as the queue to their seats got more overcrowded. 

“Shhh hyung!” was all Taemin got in reply, the queue moving up. All they could focus on was how crazy the show would be, their first time together. 

*** 

Taemin let Mark stand closer to the stage on his left, ostensibly because he was too tired to stand up the whole time and this way, Mark wouldn’t miss out. But Taemin admitted only to himself that it made more sense because this way he could just watch how happy Mark was. How the show made his whole year, the music was his catharsis, and seemingly everything made him awestruck about the performances. How he leaned forwards to hear the musicians talking ments better and most of all, how the strobe and fire lights reflected in his eyes, which were full of more emotion than Taemin had seen before. He gave Mark his lightstick to wave around and Mark gave him the biggest grin in return. 

*** 

“I can’t believe how fun that was, even though we weren’t up front, you know?” Mark repeated a little later, the ringing in his ears making it so he was being a bit loud, but no-one paid any mind, as they all poured out the venue into the chilly night. Taemin just glanced to his side at Mark’s elated expressions and laughed softly. 

“We were definitely lucky with the seats,” Taemin replied, looking at the pretty light displays just outside the venue and clearly getting lost in thought. Mark nudged him and waved his phone. 

“Let’s take another post-selfie!” He threw his arm around Taemin’s shoulder and tilted his head, waiting for Taemin to pose. Shook out of his reverie, Taemin held up a peace sign and hugged him back. 

“Hyung, you’re so cute!” Mark said as he snapped them in front of some high-up light decorations, changing his poses with the other. Taemin’s cheeks reddened but he willed out a confident “thank you” and smiled again, leaning slightly backwards in the photos. Noticing, Mark raised an eyebrow. 

“Hyung, are you trying to look better? I swear you look good and there’s not much light on us anyway!” Mark asked, a little mischievous, but sincere. Taemin’s shot off another endearing smile that could melt anyone and never failed, especially with Mark, but it was his natural, optimum state and he failed to notice its effect. Mark simply looked away, making a retching noise, followed by Taemin’s joyful laugh. 

“Let’s find my car,” Mark stated, quieter. 

*** 

They were still riding off a high when they took the motorways home, the window rolled down on Taemin’s side and a mellow tune playing. 

“Seriously, you drive so well, Mark-ah! I don’t think I’d be so great with my legs with all that standing,” Taemin told him graciously, laughing loudly now they were alone, with an unwavering smile. 

“Thanks, hyung,” Mark shyly accepted. 

“I don’t think you’d feel so safe if it was the other way around, seriously… well done, Mark-ah,” Taemin carried on, getting sleepier and leaning more heavily into his headrest. 

“Of course, hyung…” Mark’s voice drifted off, but Taemin had stopped replying and was breathing deeper. 

“Cute,” Mark hummed. 

*** 

They were recently close, but Taemin could expect a ride promptly on time each day from Mark. After his upcoming graduation that month, he hadn’t put much thought into how he would get around at whatever hours he deigned to. 

He left Mark at another building on campus, not only because their majors were different, but also because sophomores and seniors tended to frequent differing areas on the campus itself. He had never asked, just met Mark at their weekly society meet ups and, since it was kind of small, they were both half-committee members at this point. 

At the meeting that day, their friends had already seen the pictures they posted. They were cooing over one selfie in particular when Taemin walked in, exhausted from a long day in the library. 

“What are you all looking at?” he asked them, immediately game to join in on whatever was going on. It was a tough final semester and the camaraderie between almost all the members was going strong. 

“Taemin! Dude!” the president, Seulgi, turned to his approaching figure and spoke to him like she was asking for dirt on someone. She kept her gaze on him, smirking with an air of satisfaction, for what reason he couldn’t guess. He turned to look at her phone screen. 

“Oh, that. I didn’t wanna rub it too much in your faces, but you _did_ forget to go for ticketing!” Taemin gave an easy laugh, not peering too closely at the expressions on Mark’s and his face reflected back at him. 

“You look so cute together…” one girl sighed. 

“What happened to JongMin?” another joked, clapping Taemin on the shoulder a little too familiarly, “The campus ship has gone down!” 

Taemin chose to ignore that one. He had gone four years with every student who ever met him and his best friend, even those who had never met them, thinking they were a long-term item and the prize jewel of their campus. He didn’t see it. The perks of graduation grew, he thought. In this case, he had to stop his mind from imagining him and Mark as a campus couple. He was flattered, but he knew his friend didn’t see him that way, merely a senior he had happened to hang out with when the rest of their society was flaky. They’d spent more time together and matched well, but Taemin was under no illusions. Now he was graduating, Mark could find some companionship elsewhere in the group and probably had enough going on outside of that. And then there was his junior year coming up, too. 

“Seriously, Taeminnie, you’d make a great couple…” Seulgi murmured, as Mark walked into the general meeting. 

“Seulgi…” Taemin gave her a silencing look and smiled wanly, eyes asking her to put her phone away, but it was a second too late. 

“Mark! How was the show?” a guy named Jeno asked, smiling innocently. 

“Yeah, man, it was like, indescribable! Like, I’ve never seen them before, so I really loved it. It’s a shame everyone else didn’t get tickets this time…” Mark replied, pausing to drop his bag. 

“Everyone was saying, these selfies are adorable, hyung, and the other pretty pictures… It’s like a date,” Jeno laughed lightly, carrying on to say, “And we were like, JongMin who? I only know TaeMark!” He preened at his own genius and under the joining laughter of most of the group, who had already arrived, mostly seniors. His friend grappled with a self-conscious prickling sensation. 

Par for the course, Mark laughed awkwardly. 

“Yeah… We were like, in another world, it was just a really good show,” and with those words, he turned to Taemin for reassurance, standing further in the room. Taemin blinked, willing himself to say something. Mark needed him, he didn’t know why he wasn’t laughing it off, but Taemin guessed it was that Mark wasn’t out to everyone or he was super uncomfortable being “shipped” with seniors. Or just Taemin. 

“Did you all see the actual live stuff? Impressive how much HD shots we got in the dark!” he gambled, watching as the members scrolled to other pictures. 

“Oh yeah, so where’s Jongin, Taemin? He hasn’t been here for a few weeks?” the treasurer, Jisoo, asked, so casual, because God knew, the two came as a pair. 

“JONGMIN FOREVER,” the clown of the committee picked up the thread again, making sad eyes at Taemin to the amusement of everyone else. Mark joined in, clapping his hands, but Taemin noticed he wasn’t meeting his eyes. 

“How should I know? I think he’s drowning in work, you know. Please look after yourself better than he does, Jisoo-ah!” Taemin replied sweetly, squeezing the smaller senior’s shoulder. She smiled up at him, nodding her head mock-sagely. 

“Anyways guys… I was hoping we could talk about the events for the other years, like, obviously the seniors don’t have much left, but I had some ideas for freshman and sophomore engagement…” Mark announced, looking to the president to “officially” start their meeting. Mark’s bag sat in a chair far away from Taemin, and instead of greeting him like always, he bowed his head from afar and hid his face in a way that meant Taemin had a hard time figuring out why he was being so formal. He had hoped he’d made the other more comfortable and diffused any ideas people were having. He liked their close friendship and if he wanted to make the most of it in the time he had left on campus, he’d be willing to say anything to the others. Every minute with Mark was precious to Taemin, not that he’d admit it so sincerely. Seulgi had already figured out his non-verbal cues to know that anyway. 

The meeting got into full swing, and any discussion of “TaeMark” was left in the dust, although, when some members thought it was funny to make their selfie a lockscreen, Taemin’s smile slipped. Maybe if Mark had been next to him, it wouldn’t have been so painful. If he could see Mark laughing it off with genuine mirth, or just having him by his side, maybe he wouldn’t feel a gloomy mood ready to envelop him when the various eyes on him finally looked away. 

*** 

Mark didn’t see Taemin that evening, the latter hitching a ride from someone else, likely Jongin, and in subsequent days, he let Mark know that his schedule had swamped him to regularly stay later than Mark. Mark stifled the disappointment written all over his face. 

Seeing those selfies through the eyes of others had knocked him sideways, though Mark acted as if it hadn’t happened and refused to scroll back to them. He had never considered Taemin a romantic possibility in the past, and so the rabbit hole his thoughts leaped into at the idea of him and Taemin was unprecedented. 

_Him_ and Taemin… He could hardly hope for the campus to like or champion them. Someone eccentric, destined for something extraordinary like Taemin clearly was, the kindest senior in his department, more than likely, and then… Mark. If it wasn’t the age thing, it was the way Mark overslept-on-purpose for some classes, constantly lost his glasses in his tiny room, and wore clothes until they tore off his limbs because he was frankly too lazy and complacent to replace what he thought was a fashionable wardrobe. 

Looking back at the fun they had together that weekend, Mark let himself pine over the fact it _wasn’t_ a date. Futile, but Taemin was too perfect _not_ to pine over. They only met at the society meetings now, seeing as the events calendar wasn’t exactly full for busy seniors, and above all, more important than some misguided daydreams, Mark just missed his friend. His messages had gone unread, but he knew he wasn’t the only one. As far as their mutual friends knew, Taemin was drowning in work like everyone else, though Seulgi had taken him aside the day that Taemin had stopped showing and told him that Taemin was almost definitely overworking. 

“He’s not answering me either, the brat. I’m pretty sure he was managing his schedule just fine until the other week… I don’t want him to get injured so can you just go find him at the studios? I don’t know exactly when, but he’ll be spending his life there.” She had way less free time than Mark. 

Mark agreed, like a dutiful friend, but the encouraging smile Seulgi gave him and motioning for him to shoo made him think he was her last hope or something. They’d both been busy, jeez. To himself, he admitted he’d been too cowardly to do this before and he was probably showing his over-eagerness. He decided to quicken his pace as he stepped out at the meeting’s end. 

*** 

After searching countless practice rooms, Mark located Taemin, uncharacteristically messy-haired and a little battered, taking a rest from dancing. His final performance was around the corner and as a notorious workaholic, it was to be expected, but Mark didn’t like the darkest circles imaginable under his eyes one bit. 

“Hyung! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” He began safely, flashing a smile and passing his water bottle to Taemin, whose own was blatantly empty at the door. 

“Thanks, Mark-ah, you didn’t have to…” Taemin took the proffered drink with a weak smile, “I’m just waiting on food and stuff, Jongin went out.” 

“It’s cool… I just never get to see you anymore. Seulgi’s worried.” Mark replied, easily for all appearances, settling a little distance away from his cross-legged friend. 

“Tell her I’m fine. Just had some stuff on my mind and well, you know, dance de-stresses me,” Taemin replied naturally, returning to stretching his legs as he had been doing before he was interrupted. Mark tried not to stare at how flexible his friend was. He didn’t get the chance to watch Taemin practice very often, just the privilege of watching his showcases each year, which blew him away every time. 

“Is it… about graduation, hyung? Because you can talk to me too, you know?” 

“I’ll miss everyone a lot. I’ll miss you. You’re still coming to my final, right?” was the rapid reply Mark got. Mark smiled in pleasant surprise at Taemin’s sincerity, replying, “Of course, of course! We’ve been hotly anticipating it!”, reverting back into Korean. He knew Taemin preferred it, especially for more serious conversations. 

Taemin grinned more widely this time, seeming slightly more energised. He shuffled forward and rubbed Mark’s head affectionately. 

"Good… That’s all I need, so don’t worry.” 

On this occasion, Taemin’s touch bothered Mark. He no longer felt like being the “cute” dongsaeng, but he wasn’t sure how to be an in-between. A junior friend… or more equal than that… 

He barely realised that he was about to open his mouth and there was a good chance he wouldn’t be able to take back whatever came out. 

“I don’t want you overworking yourself… I also don’t want you to spend more time with Jongin and not me.” 

Mark blanched. Taemin’s eyes widened comically but his smile remained frozen on his features. 

“It’s not like that - I…” 

To salvage the conversation, Mark patted Taemin’s legs and began differently. 

“We don’t want you to hurt yourself, like Seulgi said, um,” he tried. 

Taemin looked down at where Mark’s hands were laying and said with some hesitance, “Jongin and I are duetting, that’s why we’re always together… I don’t know what people have been saying but probably a variation of what they’ve been saying for years. But we’re best friends, that’s it.” 

With one hand rubbing the back of his head, Mark’s eyes flicked up and held Taemin’s gaze. 

“Oh.” 

“You both just seem pretty perfect for each other. And perfect, in general,” Mark laughed lightly, self-derogatorily. 

It didn’t escape Taemin. 

“No-one’s perfect, Mark-ah. Especially not me. I’m a mess. And I’m still immature if I’m hanging around with you,” Taemin joked less seriously after his first reply, moving closer to Mark again. He wasn’t blind (well, not anymore). 

“I’m a mess because I was avoiding you, and whatever people kept saying about us, and me and Jongin.” 

“Why,” Mark cleared his throat and continued, “Why would you avoid me, though?” 

“Because it hurt a fair bit. Because I didn’t want to see you uncomfortable and I didn’t want to suffer either, really,” Taemin was honest and it shone through his voice, a hint of apology mixed in. 

“I’m not uncomfortable with you, hyung,” Mark was grinning back with clarity in his resolute stare, allowing himself more hope than he had in the recent past, in the privacy of his room with his thoughts. The way he addressed Taemin was teasing, in a tone that implied that he knew it might be the last time he used the word. 

“I hoped not,” Taemin reached his hand out to Mark’s, where it had travelled back to his own lap, and covered it confidently. 

Mark squeaked internally but externally, he squeezed his fingers between Taemin’s, savouring the added weight. 

“And you’ll stop overworking yourself?” 

“And I’ll stop overworking myself. And I’ll spend more time with you than anyone else.” 

“Really?” Mark cried. Taemin laughed even deeper, taking the plunge and resting his head on Mark’s shoulder below him. The shoulder in question jolted, then relaxed minutely. 

“I wouldn’t be a good boyfriend if I didn’t.” 

Mark made the most vicious face of embarrassment but squeezed Taemin’s hand harder in exchange. 

“Right… Right…” 

“Do you want that, Mark-ah? Do you want to be mine?” Taemin asked, serious but slightly mirthful. 

“Dude, who wouldn’t?” Mark’s filter still hadn’t turned back on. 

Taemin chuckled too loudly for the large room, but Mark simply rested his head atop the other’s in lieu of a proper reply. 

*** 

“Hyu- ” 

“Taeminnie!” 

“Okay… Taeminnie… Did you know I have photographic proof of your cuteness from when we last hung out?” 

“Huh?” 

“You like, fell dead asleep in the car, and I had to drag you inside- ” 

“Stop right there, Mark-ah.” 

“- And you wouldn’t get changed, you just made me sit next to your bed and, like, you wanted me to sing you to sleep- ” 

“Don’t tell me you took pictures of me sleeping.” 

“ – But I didn’t, cus my voice was shot, and you fell asleep anyway, and look, this is you drooling…”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading! do you want a more descriptive part 2?
> 
> if you haven't watched any taemark yet, mtopia last week and the new superM intimacy ep are where i got my inspiration ^^


End file.
